Hustlers and 'gold rush' characters of all sorts flocked to the high, harsh lands of Colorado in the 19th century in search of incredible riches and the dream of a better life.. A memory of that time is the city of Denver, founded in 1858 and that this Monday found 'El Dorado' in the NBA with the first Nuggets ring in its history.

After almost half a century in the league and with very few joys in their record once they left the ABA behind, the Nuggets, led by an incomparable genius like Nikola Jokic, finally conquered the title by beating 4-1 against the Miami Heat in the finals (94-89 in the fifth game).

First in the Western Conference in the regular season, the Nuggets put their 'golden' grain of sand in a city where basketball lived in the background before the victories of the Denver Broncos in the NFL, with three Super Bowls; and the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, with three Stanley Cups (the last one last year).

The 'mile-high city' (1,608 meters, specifically), in whose county some 710,000 people live, will remember from today and forever the already legendary team led by Jokic and Jamal Murray on the pitch and headed by Mike Malone since the bench that has built a compact block, tremendously solid in all facets of the game and with a devastating attack.

To reach this first ring, the Nuggets had to break down many barriers that they had stumbled against in the past.

For example, Denver had never played in a Finals in its entire history since it had reached the Western final four times and in all of them it had ended on the canvas.

Far from the most luxurious franchises in the West such as the Los Angeles Lakers or the Golden State Warriors, the Nuggets entered the playoffs this year willing to change the script and, finally, were by far the most consistent and reliable team in playoffs with countless surprises.

In the first round they got rid of the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1), in the conference semifinals they stopped the fearsome Phoenix Suns of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker (4-2) and in the conference final, without caring about the ghosts of the past , they swept the Lakers with a huge 4-0.

patience till glory

The success of these Nuggets, who won their two home games in Miami in the Finals, is based on a project cooked over a slow fire, with great patience and calmly from the offices and the track.

Thus, Malone has been Denver's coach for eight years and Jokic and Murray, the pillars of the team, have shared adventures on the court for seven seasons.

The Nuggets have been playing the playoffs for five years in a row but they did not lose their nerve either with important setbacks such as the Western final that they lost in the 'bubble' in 2020 or the year that Murray missed completely in 2021-2022 due to a serious injury to knee.

However, not only did they not transfer Murray, but they carefully built a roster without cracks thanks to Aaron Gordon's muscle on the inside, Michael Porter Jr.'s outside shot, the effort and seniority of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the spark and energy of Bruce Brown…

With all of this and not belittling his teammates, it's hard not to credit Jokic with a crucial part of the Nuggets' success.

Double MVP (2021 and 2022) and now MVP of the Finals, the Serbian genius made a place for himself among the great NBA legends of all time by touching a triple-double average in the playoffs with 30 points, 13.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game (including a fantastic 54.8% shooting from the field and 46.1% from 3-pointers).

By the way of those capital statistics, Jokic had time to beat the record for triple-doubles in a playoff with 10 and to become the first player in NBA history who was at the same time the leader in points, rebounds and assists in some playoffs.

Everything in Denver now sounds historic and never before realized, like miners in the deep who suddenly stumble upon exquisite gemstones.

In this gigantic success, Stan Kroenke also appears, the owner of these Nuggets and with this NBA ring he closed an incredible triplet since he also owns the Los Angeles Rams who won the Super Bowl in 2022 and the Colorado Avalanche who triumphed in the Stanley Cup last year.